Composites such as silicon carbide (SiC)-SiC are typically prepared by infiltration of mesh material/wires with Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVI) at temperatures above 1000° C. Alternatively, composites may be prepared using high pressure/vacuum infiltration of mesh materials/wires with a slurry followed by annealing at temperatures greater than 1000° C. While such techniques provide high speed deposition at reasonable cost, there are limitations on these methods including, but not limited to, limits on the substrate material in view of the high temperatures required for annealing, large open porosities which are unacceptable in certain applications (e.g., corrosion related), and limitations on the geometry of the substrate that can be infiltrated.
Additionally, currently used deposition methods cannot fill porosities in a substrate distal from the surface of the composite due to uncontrolled deposition rates and line of sight deposition characteristics.